Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
Sociology, Social Policy & Anthropology
Contribution to Commonwealth Environmental Initiatives
Anthropology Club Launched
Keynote presentation by Liz Kelly for Map of Gap Project
The Social Science subject area has Sociology, Social Policy and Social Research Methodology as the disciplinary basis of its work.
There are three major strands to the work of the subject team: teaching and supporting student learning, research and publication, and the application of social science to ‘real world' issues. We see these three activities as interrelated and central to our goal - which is to demonstrate through our work both the relevance and usefulness of social science to ‘making a difference' in society. We take the view that the ‘applied' nature of social science is at the heart of our approach to learning and teaching. We attract students with a wide range of backgrounds in education and the workplace. These include mature students, international students, and students from all over London and Britain and indeed the world.
Our students
The diversity of our students is one of our strengths, enhancing the experience and range of knowledge of students and staff in the Faculty and in the University as a whole. We therefore offer flexible and responsive programmes to serve this student body. However, our students are united in their concern to not only understand an increasingly complex world but also to seek ways in which they can contribute to a better future both for themselves and their children. Sometimes this involves being able to ask the right questions - rather than being given the answers! We believe that this critical awareness comes from having a good basic knowledge of the social forces that shape society and, more particularly, the appropriate methods required to study these changes. Our teaching is therefore very much centred on providing all our students with this core knowledge and these capabilities. This is achieved using a variety of innovative student-centred learning and teaching methods and modes of assessment.
Our Staff
Our staff are active and engaged interdisciplinary researchers. Their interests range from the study of global changes in the nature of Cities and the impact of environmental change on whole states, through to the study of changes in Welfare systems, local communities and developments in group and individual ‘identities’ arising from migration. This ability to bring together an understanding of relationship between wider social processes and the individual guides our approach to making research relevant. As a result our research is also able to connect to many aspects of the lives and experiences of our students.
Our ultimate aim
Our ultimate aim is to ‘spread the word’ that social science is both necessary and extremely useful in what is an ever-changing world. We are therefore seeking to develop what might be called ‘public social science’. This requires us to reach out to new audiences for our teaching and research. We aim to engage these new audiences e.g. local communities, the mass media and other socially engaged institutions and groups, by demonstrating that our teaching and research, and especially the production of knowledgeable graduates, is a vital contribution to having more informed and effective public debates about the issues that are important to people today. This is a rather ambitious goal - but it is also one that we believe can be achieved by bringing together the three strands of our work. This starts with our first and most important audience - our students. We therefore invite you to come and join us in this important and interesting project.
Our Courses
For more information about our courses, please click on the links below:
We also have Research Degrees, to find out more see MPhil/PhD study
